"State treasurer Gina Raimondo, suspended cost-of-living adjustments, raised the retirement age, lowered the assumed rate of return on pension funds to 7.5 percent from 8.25 percent and moved state employees onto a hybrid pension benefit plan, among other changes."

The result: she and the governor are being sued by the NEA and public employees unions. No one said the fight to restore fiscal sanity to unionized public employee pensions would be easy, but at least Rhode Island officials took a courageous step. Many other states are making changes to public employee pensions as well; but Rhode Island made the boldest move.

Ironic that our smallest state made the biggest and most courageous move for the taxpayers.